The Visit
by Seductive Venus
Summary: The war is over. He is home. When Sakura visits him, will he accept those facts?


_Title:_ The Visit

_Author:_ Dark Hooded Eriol the Magician

_Fandom:_ Naruto

_Pairing:_ 7. Denial

_Theme:_ Romance/Drama

_Rating:_ K+

_Disclaimer:_ I don't own Naruto. This is a work of fiction. Honestly, I don't know much about what's happened on the anime so this is quite a lot of guesswork.

_A/N:_ Just enjoy the ride! This is also for 20blankets, an LJ community.

**The Visit**

Sakura Haruno smiled as she walked inside the double doors of Konoha General Hospital. Her long, waist-length pink hair was tied up into a ponytail today. She had also traded her red Chinese-style training dress for a white shift dress. Her brown thong sandals made no noise as she passed by the receptionist's desk.

She did not need to ask for information. Neither did she need to ask for directions. Because of her trainings as a medical ninja, she knew Konoha General Hospital like the back of her hand. She'd spent countless shifts running around the halls and attending to new patients.

But she didn't need to think about work today. It was her day off and she intended to spend it with a very special person.

"Those are very pretty flowers, Sakura-san," said Mamoru-san, one of the hospital's interns, with a cheerful smile. He eyed the cluster of white and red roses on the vase with interest.

"I picked them myself," answered Sakura proudly. She had visited Ino Yamanaka's flower shop earlier for the fresh flowers. If she didn't cheer him up then the flowers will. With a nod to Mamoru-san, she proceeded to take the stairs towards the second floor.

It was a gorgeous day. Spring had placed her annual cherry blossoms on the hospital gardens. She had to smile at the beauty of her namesake. Everything looked perfect. Surely nothing would go wrong today.

She walked through the corridor until she reached the last door. It was closed. There was also a sign that said "Private" under the room number. She released a long breath. Her eyes stared at the name written under the sign.

"Uchiha Sasuke."

Sakura took another deep breath. She rearranged the flowers on the vase. With one last self-conscious adjustment of her appearance, she knocked.

There was no answer.

The green-eyed girl opened the door. It was a regular private room in the hospital. There was a refrigerator, a television and a small cabinet in the corner. However her eyes went directly towards the sleeping figure on the bed.

With quiet steps, she approached the bed. She laid the vase on the small table. There were two bottles of medicine sitting on the table as well. The stark white sheets, walls and curtains made her want to bring more flowers inside the room.

She turned her gaze towards the open windows and noted the spectacular view.

She pulled the chair closer to the bed and sat down. Her eyes stared down at him tenderly. Uchiha Sasuke slept on his side, facing her. His eyelashes curled at his cheeks and his mouth was slightly open. Dark hair spread across the pillow in a sexy mess. He was still wearing a hospital gown.

Sakura's fists clenched.

The mission to bring Sasuke Uchiha home ended yesterday. Naruto Uzumaki with a tired but victorious grin dragged Sasuke's body back inside the village with his contingent. They had been attempting to bring him back to Konoha for months. It came as a relief that they had succeeded. Sakura was glad that she was on call that day and had tended to her friends.

That was only the first part of the good news. Naruto Uzumaki and Jiraiya-sensei had also defeated Orochimaru with their combined efforts. Sakura let out a bittersweet smile. The war was over.

Konoha was safe from Orochimaru. They could sleep peacefully now. Sasuke was home. Sakura can stop crying and worrying from him. She will smile again as Naruto had hoped.

After eating and resting, Naruto had sat her down for a long and private talk. He did not omit any details. He narrated his mission from start to end. It was Naruto who defeated Sasuke. The battle had been bloody, violent and full of so many emotions for the two friends. Sasuke had grown strong but Naruto was stronger. Naruto had overpowered Sasuke and then proceeded to take down the monster that had plagued them all.

It was the talk that had changed Sakura's life.

She knew that by talking about it, Naruto was living the horrors. He trusted her. He wanted to see her smile again for him. Sakura apologized for not loving him the way he wanted her to. Naruto said it was okay. She was always free to choose Sasuke over Naruto.

Sakura noticed that the blankets were slightly twisted around Sasuke's legs. She got up and gently untangled it. Her eyes traveled up the bruises and bandages around his legs before she replaced the blanket.

Sasuke stirred. She stepped back.

Sakura met his stare without flinching. Dark eyes met bright green. She could see the wounds that hurt him. She could feel his pain just by staring back at him. Sasuke prided himself for having a cool and intimidating mask but he could never control his eyes.

"What are you doing here?" he asked in a hoarse voice.

"I'm visiting you," she answered with a soft smile. "I brought flowers."

"I don't need them," grunted the Uchiha heir.

She bit back her smile. How characteristic of Sasuke. Next thing she knew, he would demand for her to get out. Sakura sat down on her chair. She flicked her hair back as if to show him how long it had grown. With another sweet smile, she waited for him to say something.

"Where am I?" asked Sasuke.

"You're in Konoha General Hospital. The war is over." She said quietly. Her eyes went to look at the blooming cherry trees. If her haunch was correct, there would be a big cherry blossom viewing party from the Godaime's privy purse to celebrate the end of the war. It would be nice if she can get Sasuke to come with her.

"The war is over," he repeated.

"Yes," she said and turned her eyes to him. "You've been sleeping for almost 15 hours. Naruto delivered the last blow to defeat you. He brought you back."

Sasuke sat up so fast she feared he might break the bones that she mended. His fists clenched the blanket tightly. She could feel the dark aura emanating from him but she refused to be intimidated. Of course, she was not the shallow and superficial girl that she was.

"Is Orochimaru alive?"

The question startled her.

"He's dead." Sakura said with a tone of finality. Her green eyes flashed with emerald fire. "He was gone and any of your connections with him was done. There's nothing left for you in the Sound Village."

A long slow sigh escaped Sasuke's lips. He was still clenching his fists but he did not seem ready to go on a rampage.

Instead, he looked at her steadily. "If Orochimaru is gone then I do not have anything left to return to. But I don't believe it. Orochimaru is far too strong to be killed by that idiot or that pervert."

She frowned. Was she hearing it right? He was in denial! He refused to believe what she said!

"Do you really think that Orochimaru is still alive?" she asked quietly.

He did not answer. Instead, he looked away.

Sakura stopped herself from trying to convince him. She knew that it would only result in an argument. If she knew anything about Sasuke, it was his stubborn way of clinging into his beliefs. Whether Orochimaru lived or not, Sasuke would not believe her or anyone else for that matter until he realizes that he was wrong. It would crush his already fragile pride and ego.

However she knew she had to stop him from leaving. Or she had to stifle any desire to kill that still remained in him. She owed it to Naruto at least to stop him. God knows how much effort and time Naruto had given to the mission of recovering Sasuke.

They brought him back. She would not let him leave.

"Naruto brought me back." Sasuke said in an indifferent tone.

She looked surprised. "Yes, he did."

"Did you expect me to feel grateful? What if I did not want to be brought back?" he said coldly. "You don't understand anything, do you? You're not supposed to be involved in this. I'm not supposed to be taken back to Konoha. It would ruin all of my plans."

"What plans?" Sakura whispered.

"I do not intend to share them with you."

Sakura couldn't stop herself at this point. "What the hell is wrong with you anyway?"

Sasuke flinched at her angry tone. He did not expect that. With Sakura, he could never really expect anything to stay predictable.

"We brought you home because we loved you. Naruto fought you to make you see the truth. What did you want me to think when you told me that Orochimaru is stronger than Naruto? What did you want to achieve by going back to the Sound Village? You don't belong there! You belong here. You belong with us. Why can't you accept that?" Sakura said angrily. She stared back at him with fearless eyes. It took all of her self-control to keep herself from screaming at him senseless.

He stared at her. She could not read his expression.

"Sasuke-kun, why can't you accept that?" she repeated.

"Because it's too good to be true." Sasuke answered softly.

"What do you mean?" she asked, anguished.

"I didn't think that you'd defeat Orochimaru. I did not want to return to Konoha because I wanted to defeat Orochimaru myself. I was going to kill the Akatsuki afterwards. Those were my original plans. But you brought me back and you've made yourselves targets to the Akatsuki." Sasuke told her in a quiet voice.

Her shoulders shook with suppressed emotion. She felt tears come into her eyes.

"How could we know?" Sakura said softly "We only wanted you to come back."

"I am back. Now I've got to think of ways of protecting you from the Akatsuki," he said.

Sasuke stared straight into her eyes. He knew that he had to improvise from now on. His battle with Naruto had truly been unexpected. He didn't think that the blond had that much power. But in knowing that his former mentor was dead, he was free to pursue his original goals.

He had to make sure that none of his loved ones would die.

"Will you leave us again?" Sakura asked hesitantly. "You could at least tell us if you would."

I won't hurt you this time, he thought as he watched her well up with tears again. When he'd left, she'd tried to stop him.

She would always try to be there for him. She would always care for him. He didn't want to hurt her any more than he had to. He reached out to touch her cheek. His eyes softened. "I won't deny you that."

Sakura's eyes brightened. She smiled up at him. That was all she needed to hear.

"Thank you," she said with a smile. "You belong with us, Sasuke-kun."

Because we love you, Sakura thought with a bittersweet smile.

"I know." He agreed.

"I've got to go. You ought to go back to sleep. I'll come back tomorrow." Sakura said as she got up. He let his hand fall to his side. She smiled sweetly. "I think we ought to establish friendly ties again. You never know who might be useful to you. If you try to go, I'll try to stop you."

Sasuke felt the corners of his lips quirk up. His eyes watched her move towards the doorway with appreciation for her lithe and graceful body. Maybe he should stay a little longer in this hospital. She worked here after all. He might see her wearing her sexy nurse's uniform...

She waved to him before she got out of the door. Her smile was so sweet and so bright.

He lay back and closed his eyes. He looked forward to more visits from Sakura. The war was over and he was looking forward to the future. He'd accepted the fact that he was free. He was home.


End file.
